Grid transfer mechanism



July 5, 1960 5. J. GARTNER GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April15. 1954 w I 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR STANLEY d. GARTNER ATT N July 5,1960 s. J. GARTNER GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 19548 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR STANLEY J. GARTNER ATTORNEY July 5, 1960 5. J.GARTNER GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 1954 NMN Q3 u9% NE Q l 5 NA Hll INVENTOR STANLEY J. GARTNER ATTORNEY July 5, 1960 s.J. GARTNER 2,943,751

GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet. 4

INVENTOR STANLEY d, GARTNER ATTORNEY July 5, 1960 s. J. GARTNER GRIDTRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 a l2 Im fi l iiL i luuuu 19.8

INVENTOR STANLEY J. GARTNER ATTORN y 1960 s. J. GARTNER 2,943,751

- GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet 6INVENTOR STANLEY J. GARI-NER ATTORNEY a v: N

y 1950 5. J. GARTNER 2,943,751

GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Original Filed April 15. 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet. 7

INVENTOR STANLEY d. GARTNER BY, I

ATTORNE nited States 2,943,751 GRID TRANSFER MECHANISM Stanley J.Gartner, Emporium, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to SylvaniaElectric Products Inc, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of DelawareApplication Feb. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 640,444, which is a division ofapplication Ser. No. 423,391, Apr. 15, 1954, now Patent No. 2,821,825,dated Feb. 4, 1958. Divided and this application July 8, 1958, Ser. No.747,303

1 Claim. (Cl. 214-1) atet Specifically the invention relates to a gridtraying d evice wherein grids are transferred froma grid making machineto pockets in trays.

It is an object of the invention to provide in such a machine means forinsuring the stoppage of the machine in the. event-that some failureoccurs in the transfer .of grids from a bucket to a pocket in the tray,to provide a novel pick up nozzle and .novelmeans for moving the same,toprovide novel means for advancing the grid tray in two directions forloading pockets therein, to provide means for loading one or more gridsas desired in each pocket, and to provide means for moving a tray from asupply chute of trays to a loaded tray chute from which the loaded traysmay be manually removed. Other objects will be apparent after readingthe detailed description below.

The invention will be understood after consideration of the followingspecification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a grid traying portion of a grid makingmachine. V

Fig. 2 is an end view of a traying device looking toward the left inFig. l.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the traying device, parts beingremoved. V

Fig. 4 is'an enlarged view, partly in section, of a portion of a bucketconveyer advancing mechanism.

Fig. 5 is an end view of a rack and pinion utilized to effect movementof "a nozzle carriage together with switches operated by rack carriedpawls.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a nozzle carriage and operatingmeans associated therewith, parts being shown in section. V v

Fig. 7 is a plan viewof tray carriage index movement determining means,parts being broken away. v

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view through the mechanism of Fig. 7. i

Patented July 5, 1960 inc 2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION In general, see Fig. l,the traying device is located immediately adjacent to grid cut offstation 10 of a grid making machine and its mechanism is timed tooperate in synchronism with the cutofi tool of the grid making machine.The traying device comprises an intermittently movable endless conveyor12 on which are fixedly mounted equally spaced buckets 14, these bucketscatching the individual grids as they are cut oif from a grid strip inthe grid making machine and transferring them to a station from whichthe grids are removed from the buckets. The removal of the grids isefiected by an oscillatory and vertically reciprocable suction nozzle 16which removes the contents of a bucket and places the contents in a gridreceiving tray 18 beneath the nozzle, the tray being provided withpockets to receive one, or more than one, grid in a pocket, aspredetermined by a setting of the machine. Trays 18 are arranged in asupply chute 20 and from this chute they are delivered one by one to aposition beneath the nozzle, for further serpentine indexing movementwhile being filled and for subsequent backward displacement to areceiving stacking chute 22,

All of the movements of parts are in timed relationship and controlledby switches as will be explained later on in detail.

The bucket advancing mechanism Means are provided for transferring gridscut off at 10 in the grid making machine from that position to aposition beneath the grid pick up nozzle 16. These means comprise theseries of buckets 14 mounted on the conveyer 12. Each bucket, see Figs.7 and 8, has a pair of inclined walls 24, and an end Wall 26, the buckettapering and widening in the direction of the end wall and alsoincreasing in depth as the end wall is approached. This is so thatgridsv cut oif from the grid strip at the cut off station '10 andsliding down the delivery trough 28 will always be received in the samelocation in the buckets, with the grids lying in the deep wide ends ofthe buckets. The buckets, which may be of plastic material, are mountedon the conveyer chain 12 by means of right angle brackets 30 suitablysecured to the chain at their lower ends and screw fastened or otherwisesecured to blocks 32 molded in with the buckets. In Fig. 4, for the sakeof clarity, only. one bucket is shown, but it should be understood thatthere is one bucket for each angle bracket 30 and the brackets aremounted on alternate links of the conveyer chain.

The buckets travel in the direction of the arrow in right. The chain istrained over a number of .idler sprockets. indicated as 34, 36, 3'8, 40and 42 and inter-- mittently moved, see Figs. 1 and 4, by steppingmecha-Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing means for V advancing a trayalong a tray carriage age stack to a tray receiving stack.

Fig. 10 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a portion of the.tray advancing means.

Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are views showing diiferent positions of operatingmechanism utilized for advancing the trays,'and

Fig. 14 is a wiring diagram of the circuitry-empolyed in the trayingdevice. I a i 4 from a tray stor- .nism 4.4; The stepping mechanismcomprises a pawl 46 pivoted" on a bar 48 slidable longitudinally in apair of fixed bearing blocks 50, 50, the pawl having a tooth or toe 52movable into between and out of the links of the chain conveyor 12. Theheel 54 or the pawl is slidably, and pivotallyengaged with an, end ofthe piston rod 56 operating in' the fixed hydraulic cylinder 58.

When fluid pressure is admitted behind. the piston on the piston rod,that is to the right of the cylinder 58 in Fig. 4, the initialdisplacement of the piston rod'causes the pawl 46 to swing about itspivot to engage the toe 52' with the chain. It is this slightly advancedposition of the piston which is shown in Fig. 4. To assist in effectingthis engagement, an abutment block 60 is provided against which thechain is thrust when the toe of the pawl is swung into engagementwiththe chain. Further movement of the piston rod toward the left inFig. 4 forces the pawl 46 and bar 4-8 to move in a longitudinal 7direction to advance the chain conveyer and the buckets one step and sothat the next bucket is in position at station to catch a grid. Thetiming is such that each receives only one grid from the grid makingmachine.

The chain advancing movement is initiated by closing of a switch 62, seeFigs. 1 and 14, operated by a cam 64 fixed ona shaft 66 of the gridmaking machine, the shaft 66 being synchronized with the cutting tool atstation 10.

The closing of this switch energizes a solenoid 67 which controlshydraulic valve mechanism to admit fluid to the right of the piston inFig. 4. Opening of the switch deenergizes the solenoid and allows fluidto be vented from the right of the piston and to be admitted to the leftof the piston in Fig. 4 to retract the pawl and bar 48. The irn'tialretracting movement of the piston rod effects disengagement of the toe52 of the pawl from the chain, rotation of the pawl on its pivot beinglimited, by engagement of a shoulder 68 on the pawl with a face of bar48. Subsequent movement of the pawl to initial starting position takesplace independent of chain movement. The chain is therefore advanced inone direct-ion only at intervals determined by the operation of cam 64.

The nozzle translating and oscillating means On the completion of chainindexing movement and prior to the release of the pawl 46 from thechain, the pawl comes into contact with operating roller 69 of switch70; this switch closes a circuit to a solenoid 71 (Fig. 14) to causehydraulic fluid to flow into fixedcylinder 72 (see lower right of Fig.2) to move a piston rod 74 to'the right in Fig. 2 or toward the readerout of the paper in Fig. 5. To the pistonrod is secured an angularbracket 76 carrying on its upper surfacea rack 78. Displacement of therack to the right in Fig. Z'effects counter clockwise rotation of a gear80, said gear being fixed on a shaft 82. The shaft 82 (see top, right,of Fig. l) finds bearingin the end plate 84 of a rectangular frameconsisting of said end plate 84, a second end plate 86 fastened to thegrid machine as by screws 88, and two round bars 90 joining the endplates. Fixed on the shaft 82 (see Fig. 6) within the rectangular frameis a pair of cams 92 and 94, each cam operating a bell crank lever.There are two bell crank levers 96 and 98 having followers reactingagainst the cams. The lever 96 has an adjustable button 108 thrustingagainst a rod'102 of a vertically movable frame 164, the frame beingguided for vertical movement by hearing block fixture 106 fastened tothe end plate 84. The upper end of frame 184 is a horizontal bar 108pivotally carrying, at the forward end, the pickup nozzle 16.

The lever 98 has a straight line cam surface 112 with concave andbevelled portions at its upper end, the lever cooperating with a camfollower roller 114 on the lower end of a bent lever 116 pivoted at 121on the rear end of the bar 108. The upper end of the lever 116 isconnected to one end of a turnbuckle link'118, the opposite end of whichis connected to a crank arm 12!), see Figs. 2 and 3, fixed on a shaft122 to which is also fixed a cantilever tube 124 at the free end ofwhich is fixed the pickup nozzle 16. A spring 125 serves to maintain theroller 114 against the lever 98. The nozzle has a mouth bevelled in twodirections, see Figs. 3 and '9, to conform with the plane of rest of .agrid lying on the sloping bottom of a bucket. The cams 92, 94 and camsurfacesll 2 are designed so as to causethe end of the pick up nozzle.to describe alpath from an initial lowered position whereinthe nozzleis immediately above the grid tray to a raised and swung position wherethe nozzle is above a bucket, then down into the bucket for suctionadherence of a grid to the nozzle, then up again and out of the bucket,swung again out of the path of the bucket and finally down. to the fullline position shown in Fig. 6. In this last position the nozzle or pickup finger has its suction cut off so that the grid would be releasedfromthe nozzle. This is effected by reason of a switch operatingbar 126, seeFigs. 2 and 6, mounted on thehorizontal bar 108 engaging the plunger ofa switch 128 to move the. same to cause a solenoid 136 to be deenergizedto permit dropping of a plunger core 132. This core is connected to avalve stem 134, operating in a valve block 135, the stern cutting offthe suction to the nozzle on release of the solenoid core. When the pickup finger is raised above its lowest position the switch 128 closes,raising the core and placing the nozzle in communication with an exhaustdevice. A flexible hose 136 connects the valve block with the tube 124leading to the nozzle.

Tray supply and. receiving Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 5, it will beseen that the bracket 76 carries two levers 137 and, 138 as well as therack 78. The lever 137 is on one side of the bracket to operate theplunger of a normally closed flick switch 140 and the lever 138 is onthe other side, being designed to operate the plunger of a normally openflick switch 142. Switch 140 effects the release of a self locking relay144 while switch 142 effects the closing of a second self locking relay146. The lever 137 has a sloping bottom portion and it is designed sothat the lowest free end portion only of the lever will engage theplunger of switch 140 to operate the same, the plunger afterwards movingout beneath the lever, as the lever is advanced by the rack. The pivotalmotion of the lever is limited by the stop pin 141. On reverse movementof the lever, the lower surface thereof rides over the plunger and thelever pivots, thereby not'operating the switch. The lever 138 is pivotedso that on right hand movement of the rack in Fig. 2 the lever pivotsupward. On the left hand movement of the rack, the vertical face oflever 138 operates the switch 142. The downward pivotal movement of thelever is limited by stop pin 139 illustrated in Fig. 5.

'Slidable on the rods 90 is a carriage 150, this carriage fixedlycarrying the supply and receiving chutes 20 and 22. The supply chutecomprises four upright angles 152 one at each corner of a rectangle,suitably spaced apart to guide the trays 18 placed in the angles. Thetrays are held within the angles and above the surface of a trayelevator 154, to be described later, by two pairs of release fingers156, one pair on each side of the supply chute. On each side of thechute each of the fingers is secured to a lever 158 pivoted at 160 on aweb or plate 162 spanning a pair of angles, the levers being articulatedat their other ends, as at 164, so that pviotal movement of one leverwill force pivotal movement of the other. The levers at the front of themachine, i.e., at the left in Fig. 2, are provided with rollers 166 tobe engaged by elevator extensions 168 to swing all of the fingers outfrom under the bottommost tray to release the same. A spring pressedplunger 170 returns the fingers to their holding positions as theelevator drops. The parts are so proportioned that the fingers slideinto the path of movement of the trays above the bottommost tray in thestack prior to full descent of the elevator, the trays for this purposehaving overhanging rims, asfshown in Figs. 3 and 9. There is a secondelevator beneath the receiving chute '22, this elevator comprising atongue 171, a transverse web piece 172 and the rails 174. V

The rails 174, on the upward movement of the second elevator, lifts atray into the receiving chute, to be retained therein by spring operatedfingers 176, there being a pair of fingers atthe forward face of thechute and another pair at the rear face of the chute. A tray when liftedby the elevator would ratchet past the fingers, lifting other traysabove it in the receiving chute, if they be present, and then sinkdownward on the fingers as the elevator recedes.

The elevators are guided for vertical movement on the carriage by fourguides 178 mounted on the carriage, .two being beneath the supply chuteand two beneath the receiving chute. The elevators are provided withpins 180 sliding in these guides. To raise and lower the elevators thereis provided .a pair of fluid motors 182, one at each end of the carriageand .each positioned p centrally between the two guides at therespective end. The pistons 184 of the motors are fixedly secured to theelevators. A reciprocating movement of the elevators will thereforerelease a tray from the supply chute and at the same time force anothertray into the receiving chute. At the end of the upward stroke of theelevators the tongue 171 of the rear elevator operates the plunger of aswitch 185 to reverse the fluid motors 182 and lower the elevators toinitial position.

Tray indexing The trays are indexed from front to rear of the machine(to the right in Fig.9) by a chain mechanism comprising a pair of spacedapart parallel chains 186, each having lugs 188 in opposition to oneanother on the chains and equally spaced therealong, the lugs of thechains being operative to engage the forward end of a tray and propelthe tray to the rear of the machine upon indexing movement of thechains. The chains are trained around sprockets 190 mounted on shafts192 and 194 at the front and rear of the carriage, the front sprocketsbeing pinned to the shaft 192 mounted on the carriage and the rearsprockets being loose on the shaft 194. The shaft 192 is mounted in abearing frame 196 secured to the front of the carriage while the shaft194 is mounted .on carriage plate 197 by brackets 198. The traysthemselves are partitioned longitudinally and transversely to formpockets, rectangular in plan.

A tray is indexed rearwardly. of the machine a distance in accordancewith the spacing between the transverse centers of the pockets and thecarriage is indexed longitudinally of the machine (from right to left ofthe machine Fig. l or the reverse) distances dependent on thelongitudinal spacing of ,the pockets in the tray. In addition' themachine provides for a longer transverse indexing movement of the trayrearwardly of the machine on exchange of trays under the grid transfernozzle.

To effect the transverse indexing movement of the trays, see Figs. 9 to13, there is provided a compression spring 200 reacting at its lower endagainst the bottom of a .cage 202 fastened to the carriage and reactingat its upper end against the bottom of rack bar 204. The rack bar isrestrained against upward movement by fluid pressure mechanismcomprising a cylinder 206, a piston 208 and a washer 210 on the piston,the piston passing freely through an opening 212 in a right'angularportion of the rack bar with the washer normally engaging the uppersurface of the angular portion thus restraining upward movement of therack bar. On fluid pressure being released from above the piston andfluid being admitted beneath the piston, the rackv bar will be permittedto rise until otherwise restrained, as will be explained, but the pistonmay continue to move upward. On fluid pressure being applied above thepiston, vthe washer 210 will move down into engagement with the rack,bar and will depress the bar against the action of arm of, a sleeve 220freely rotatable about the shaft but pinned to the rack bardriven'pinion 214. Upward movement of the rack bar will therefore movethe pawl to rotate the-ratchet wheel and the shaft 192 while downwardmovement of the rack bar will merely result in the ratcheting of thepawl 216 over the teeth of the ratchet wheel. A' spring pressedarresting pawl 222 is provided to prevent undesired backward rotation ofthe ratchet wheel. Also pinned on the shaft is a rotation limiting meansin the form of a stepped detent wheel 224 having a number of short stepsproportional to the transverse spacing between pockets of a tray and asingle long step proportional to the distance a tray should be spam thefirst transverse pocket of the next tray. Cooperating with this detentwheel is the spring urged stop pawl 226 to limit the rotation of theshaft tothe angulardistances provided by the steps on the wheel 224.When the rack bar is down an arm 228 fast on the sleeve 220 has releasedthe stop pawl 226; initial movement of the rack bar upward releases thestop pawl to the action of its spring. But in the meantime the detentwheel 224 has moved through a sufficient angular distance to allow thepawl 226 to come to rest on the next step. Rotating of the detent wheeland therefore ratchet wheel 216,

sleeve 220 and pinion 214 therefore continues until the toe of pawl 226engages the next tooth. Thus the pinion 214 drives the rack 204 up alimited extent. While the rack bar is limited in upward displacement bythe detent wheel 224, the piston 208 can continue to move upward untilits upper end engages the plunger of a switch 230 serving to reverse thevalves controlling the cylinder 206 to effect downward displacement ofthe piston 208 and the rack bar, the pawl 218 at this time ratchetingidly back over the teeth of the'ratchet wheel 216. The movement of therack in one direction has rotated the shaft 192 through an angulardistance determined by the length of the steps on the detent wheel 224and thus has driven the sprockets 190 a given angular distance. Therebythe lugs 188 on the chains driven by the sprockets have advanced a fixedrequired distance, advancing the grid trays a distance equal to thespacing of the pockets therein or the spacing between the last rowofpockets in one tray and the first row of the next tray.

' Carriage index and reverse The carriage 150, as stated heretofore,slides'on the bars 90. Aflixed horizontally to the underside of thecarriage is a double ended cylinder 232 and afiixedi to the frameworkend plate 84 is a piston rod 234, the. same being fixed to the end plateby a pin 236 and restrained against shearing of the pin by having areduced neck portion thrusting against a block 238 fastened to the 'endplate. The piston rod has a piston within-the cylinder and fluidpressure on one side of the piston will drive the cylinder and carriagein one direction while fluid pressure in the other side of the cylinderwill drive the cylinder and carriage in the reverse direction.The'carriage is moved step by step under control of a number of switchesand dependent on the adherence of a grid to the nozzle 16. The end'portion of the nozzle, see Fig. 3, is constructed of two verticalchannel ter-. minals 240, 242, of conductive material separatedfrom eachother by an insulating strip 244, the channel memher 242 being groundedthrough machine parts and the other member 240 insulated from themachine as by an insulating strip 246. When a grid shorts the nozzleterminals, an electronicrelay 248, which may for example include atriode whose grid bias is controlled by grounding thegrid of the tubethrough shorting of the nozzle terminals, closes the circuit for therelay 144. This relay has a self locking contact 250 which shorts theelectronic relay. As stated previously, the relay is released onmomentary opening of normally closed flick switch 140. The relay alsocloses contacts 253 to control the completion of a circuit to the relay146 previously described. The relay146, when energized, closes contact254 thereby closing the circuit to one or the other of a pair of valveenergizing solenoids 256 or 258. In Fig. 14 the circuit to the solenoid258 is shown as prepared to be closed so that an operation of the valvesleading to cylinder 232 will be eflected to move the cylinder andcarriage shown in Fig. 3 to the right. The indexing of the carriage iscontrolled by a switch 260 whose plunger rides on a rod 262 havingequally moved from the last transverse pocket of one tray to spacedslots 2 64. The rod is fixed to the carriage and has as many slots asthere are pockets in the tray, counting longitudinally of the tray,i.e., from left to right in Fig. 1. In the position shown in Fig. 3, theswitch is closed with the plunger of the switch riding on the high partof the rod. When a recess 264 comes into registration with the plunger,the plunger drops into the slot, the switch opens and indexing movementof the carriage ceases. The indexing movement of the carriage is underfurther control of a grid counting mechanism as follows:

Each time the bucket carrying chain 12 is advanced by the steppingmechanism 44,'the idler sprocket 42 is rotated through a halfrevolution. See Figs. 1, 7, and 8. The sprocket is pinned to a stubshaft 266, suitably mounted in the frame of the traying device, to whichis also pinned a'pinion 268 meshing with a second pinion 270 freelyrotatable on a second stub shaft 272 also mounted in the frame of thetraying device. The diameters of the gears are such that one halfrevolution of gear 268 results in greater than one half revolution ofgear 270. Pinned on the stub shaft 272 and on opposite sides of asupport arm 274 extending up from the traying device frame is a pair ofdiscs 276 and 278. The disc 276 is slip frictionally driven by thepinion in any known manner and is arrested in its rotational movementwith the pinion 270 by the action of detent 280 normally riding on theperiphcry of the disc 278 but eventually spring pressed into one of theslots 282 in the detent disc 278.

As many slots or notches are placed in disc 278 asthe number of grids itis desired to load in each pocket of a tray and, in practice, themounting for the disc is made in a fashion to facilitate interchange ofa disc with another disc having a dilferent number of notches. Thepinion 268 is provided with a pair of diametrically arranged upstandingswitch plunger operating pins 284 and the disc 276 is provided with aradial switch operating finger 286. Each time the buckets are indexed,one of the pins moves past the plunger of a normally open switch 288thereby momentarily controlling the closing of a circuit to a detentrelease coil 290 whose core will release the detent 280 against theaction of the restoring spring 292 allowing the friction drive toadvance the disc 276 and its finger 286. In the arrangement shown theadvance of two buckets will permit the finger 286 to reach the positionwherein the plunger of a switch 294 will be closed to complete thecircuit to relay 146, previously described. Thus, see Fig. 10, when agrid shorts the nozzle 16, the switch 253 will be closed. Thereafter itis possible for the switch 288 to function to energize solenoid 290 towithdraw detent 280 to enable switch 294 to close to prepare the circuitto relay 146, the circuit being finally momentarily closed when thelever 138, Fig. 2, momentarily closes switch 142. Then the carriagestarts to index causing switch 260 to close. This switch is in serieswith a relay contact 296 and the series connected arrangement is inparallel with switch 142 whereby the circuit to the indexing solenoid258 (or 256) is maintained closed at contact 254 until the plunger ofswitch 260 drops into a recess 264 in the bar 262 thereby opening thecircuit to relay 146 and allowing contact 254 to drop open.

Carriage reverse In addition to the control of carriage movementexercised by the switch 254 there is also provided switch means forreversing the direction of movement of the carriage. At the right handend of rod 262, Fig. 1, there is provided a fixed collar 298, which onmovement of the carriage to the extreme left will engage the plunger ofa normally open carriage reverse control switch 300. A second singlepole double throw switch 302, located in position to be activated by asecond fixed collar 304 on the rod 262, is connected in with the firstswitch with the pole normally closed on the switch contact in serieswith the switch 300. Momentary closing of switch 300 will complete acircuit through a relay 306 to pull up self locking contacts 308 andclose contacts 310 to solenoid 258. Thereby the carriage will start to.travel to the right until the contacts at 254 are opened by switch 260(controlled by the notches in rod 262) opening the circuit, forrelay146. It should be noted that on a proper number of grids beingplaced in a pocket of a tray, the radial finger 286 will be in aposition wherein theswitch 294 is maintained closed. Therefore, theopening of switch 260 determines the stoppage of the carriage. Afterindexing of the carriage to the right has continued until collar 304engages the plunger of switch 302, the switch 302 is momentarily shiftedto its other contact and away from its series connected contact therebyreleasing the relay 386 to allow contact 310 to drop open and anothercontact 312 to close. Contact 312 energizes solenoid 256 to cause thecarriage to reverse its direction of movement, the movement'again beingunder control of the notches in shaft 262.

Tray index control When the switch 302 is operated by the collar 304, asstated heretofore, the switch is momentarily caused to make contact witha second contact leading via line 314 to a self holding tray indexcontrol relay 316. This relay has contacts 318 in series with a trayindex solenoid 320 controlling the valves leading to cylinder 206 andself holding contacts 323. On operation of the piston rod 203 ofcylinder 206, as previously described, the limit switch 230 ismomentarily opened to break the holding circuit of relay 316 to allowthe tray index operating mechanism to return to initial position. Therelay 316 is also momentarily energized through operation of a secondnormally open switch 322 closable by the collar 298. This switch is inseries with limit switch 230 and the coil of relay 316, it willtherefore serve to pull up the relay when the switch is momentarilyclosed, the holding circuit of the relay being then established aroundthe switch 322 by the contacts 323.

Elevator lift control As the tray is indexed by the intermittentstepping of the shaft 192, the shaft also steps around a disc 324 havinga radial pin 326. After a tray has been indexed toward the rear of thecarriage, as previously described, the pin 326 brushes by the plunger ofa switch 328 thereby momentarily closing the circuit to self lockingrelay 330. This relay has locking contacts 332 shorting the switch 328and elevator lift control solenoid contact 334 for energizing a solenoid336 operating valves to control cylinders 182. The contact 334 will dropout upon the circuit to the relay 330 being broken by elevator operatedswitch 185.

Supplemental controls Several supplemental switches are provided toenable convenient servicing operations. Thus, a switch 342 is providedshorting grid pick up nozzle 16 so as toenable the machine to operateeven if no grids lie in the buckets or in the event of dirt lodging onthe suction tip of the nozzle preventing contact between a grid and anelectrode of the nozzle. Also a short circuiting switch 340 about theswitch 294 is provided to enable carriage indexing to take place foreach nozzle movement, regardless of the number of notches in the detentwheel 278. A third service switch 344 is provided to effect, uponclosure thereof, tray index movement independently of other machinemovements.

Summary of operation Now that the component parts of the machine havebeen described, a review of the operation of the entire machine is inorder. The wiring diagram of Fig. 14 will be helpful inconsidering thesequence of operation of parts.

Bucket advance On a grid being severed from a grid strip in the gridmaking machine, the cam 64operates the switch 62 energizing solenoid 67to operate valves to admit fluid pres- ,in a grid tray.

Nozzle movement On the completion of the chain advancing stroke, theclaw 44 operates switch 70 to close the circuit to solenoid 71 foroperating a valve to admit fluid pressure to the forward end of cylinder72 to drive the rack 78 back, rotate the pinion 80, the shaft 82, thecams 92 and 94 and through the cams cause the suction nozzle to travelthrough its orbit. Upward movement of the nozzle frame closes thecircuit through switch 128 to the suction valve solenoid 130 opening thesuction path; and lowering of the frame breaks the circuit, closing offthe suction.

Carjriage imdex present, the relay is not energized and the carriagewill not index. On a grid being picked up, the relay 144 I closes switch253 preparing the relay control for the indexing circuit. Also preparingthe circuit is switch 294 closed only when the detent operating solenoid290 has been energized a required number of times. there are two notchesin the detent disc 278 and two grids will be deposited in each pocket ofa tray. The solenoid 290 is energized only when the chain has driven apin 284 past the plunger of switch 288, and also concurrently whenswitch 253 is closed, i.e., concurrently when a grid is shorting nozzle16 so as to energize relay 144 to close switch 253. With the circuitthus, prepared, the backward stroke of rack 78 causes lever 138 tomomentarily close switch 142 thereby drawing up the contacts of relay146, closing the relay self locking contacts 296 around switch 142 andclosing contact 254 to prepare the carriage index circuit. The relay 146drops out after the grid has been released by the nozzle and lever 137on rack bar 78 has momentarily tripped open the switch 140. The levers137 and 138 are so pivoted that lever 138 operates switch 142 only onthe backslide of the rack, i.e., on the left hand stroke in Fig. 2,while lever 137 operates switch 140 only on the forward stroke of therack. When switch 142 is closed, as well as switches 294 and 253, thecarriage starts to index and a portion of the rod 262 between recesses264 closes switch 260 short circuiting, with the aid of switch 296, themomentarily closed switch 142. Indexing continues until the plunger ofswitch 260 drops into the next recess of the rod. Thereupon the circuitto relay 146 is broken and carriage indexing switch 254 opens.

Carriage reverse indexing operation continues until the collars 298 and304 on the control rod 262 operate either switch 300 or 302. Switch 600is normally open. Switch 302 is normally closed on the line leading toswitch 300 but open to the line leading to tray index relay 316. Whenswitch 300 is momentarily closed, at the end of left hand movement ofthe carriage, by the collar 298, self locking relay 306 is energizedclosing the. circuit via contact 310 to solenoid 258 and opening thecircuit through contact 312 to solenoid 256. Solenoids 256 and 258control valves to admit fluid pressure on opposite sides of the pistonin carriage indexing cylinder 232. The carriage now reverses andcontinues in motion until switch 260 As shown operated by the indexcontrol rod 262 opens up, deenergizing solenoid 146 thus allowingcontact 254 to open.

After the carriage has moved to the extreme right, the left hand collar304 momentarily shifts switch 302 to a position where it momentarilycontacts line 314 and to a position where it is out of contact with theline feeding the relay 306. Through the contacts 312 and 310 controlledby relay 306, the solenoid 258 becomes deenergized and solenoid 256energized to reverse travel of cylinder 232 and the carriage 150.Indexing of the carri-age to the left is then controlled by switch 260,as it was when the carriage was indexed to the right.

Tray index As indicated before, operation of switch 302 besidesterminating indexing movement of the carriage to the right also closesthe circuit to relay 316 which relay has the contacts 318 controllingoperation of tray index solenoid 320. This solenoid controls the valvesto tray index cylinder 206. A second control for the same relay 316 andsolenoid 320 is obtained through switch 322 opposite switch 300 andoperated by the collar 298. Therefore at the termination of eachcarriage indexing movement, Whether to the right or left, the tray willbe indexed backward so that a new row of pockets will be positioned forthe nozzle transfer device. Tray indexing movement whether initiated byoperation of switch 302 or switch 322 is terminated by plunger 208momentarily opening switch 230.

Elevator lift With each tray index movement, the shaft 192 is steppedaround driving the disc 324 with its finger 326. The finger thus indexestoward the normally open switch 328. When, after a tray has moved to aposition where it is beneath the storage chute, the switch is closed,fluid pressure is admitted to the motors 182, the filled tray is thrustinto the storage chute by its elevator and at the same time a newunfilled tray is released from the supply chute ready to move down withits corresponding elevator. Elevator movement is reversed by contact ofelevator portion 171 with switch releasing the relay locking circuitinvolving contact 332 and dropping out contact 334 so that the solenoid336 controlling the valves to the motors 182 is no longer energized.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 640,444 filedFebruary 15, 1957 which in turn is a division of application Serial No.423,391 filed April 15,

1954 and patented as No. 2,821,825 on February 4, 1958.

What is claimed is:

Means for transferring an article from a supply element at one elevationto a receiver at another elevation comprising a suction nozzle, andmeans for moving said suction nozzle comprising a pair of cams, a bellcrank lever operated by one of said cams, a nozzle carrying frameelevatable by said lever, said frame pivotally mounting the nozzle, asecond bell crank lever operated by the other of said cams, a camsurface on said second bell crank lever, a third lever, a connectionbetween said third lever and the nozzle to swing the nozzle on swingingof the lever, and a cam follower on said third lever riding on the camsurface of the second lever, all whereby the movement of the nozzle iscontrolled by the two cams and the riding of the cam follower of thethird lever on the cam surface of the second lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,667,420 Muelemans et a1 Jan. 26, 1954 2,685,971 Ewing et a1 Aug. 10,1954

